Massachusetts Criminal Defense Attorney Blog
Yesterday a Framingham, Massachusetts man was arraigned in the Middlesex County Superior Court after having been charged with Possession of Child Pornography and Distribution of Child Pornography. The defendant, Thomas Hannover was released on his own recognizance. The Metrowest Daily News article did not provide details of the allegations stating only that the charges followed a two year investigation and that Hannover possessed fifty five files that could be shared peer to peer. A condition of Hannover’s release is that he stay away from children under the age of sixteen.
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Massachusetts Child Pornography Possession/Distribution Defense Lawyer
Child Pornography Possession and Distribution are types of Internet Crimes. There are lots and lots of people who access Child Pornography on the internet and have absolutely no idea that their actions constitute “distribution”. Now you are probably asking “how can that be?” The answer is easy. File sharing constitutes distribution for the purpose of Child Pornography Laws in Massachusetts. File sharing is the act of enabling access or distributing information that is stored digitally. You might remember Napster or Kazaa when they first came out. All you had to do was sign up and you could immediately search for, access and download music files for any artist for free. What you might now have known what that once these files were loaded people could access them from you computer and download them for their own use or actively distribute the songs. Well, even though you never openly said “come in and help yourself to my music” the act of joining up and using these programs constituted an act of distribution. The same applies here. If Hannover was using these programs so that he could possess the materials for himself, he was also permitting others to get into his files so that they too could view or download the Child Porn. District Attorneys in Massachusetts treat this as distribution, felony.
File sharing activities are being regulated by many governments throughout the world. This has been done to curb the erosion of certain areas of the entertainment industry, particularly the music industry. In many instances lawsuits were filed against people hosting peer to peer file sharing websites. On the criminal side prosecutors and law enforcement officials try to monitor these websites and prosecute people they believe to be exploiting children through these activities. Literally millions of Americans use peer to peer software. Sometimes downloading activities are done innocently or accidentally. Nevertheless, if caught these people are likely to face criminal charges making it imperative that they hire an Experienced Massachusetts Child Pornography Defense Lawyer.
If you are in trouble, or if you think you are in trouble you need to contact a lawyer right away. The Law Offices of Stephen Neyman is available around the clock to help you with criminal charges that you are or might be facing. Call us at 617-263-6800 now. We provide an initial free telephone consultation. Do not wait. Start your defense now.